WAC Round-up

When Kyle Barone has two points heading into the locker room at halftime, one can assume things aren’t going well for the Vandals. That was certainly the case Saturday in Denver, when the Pioneers held a 36-14 lead at halftime. Idaho turned the ball over four times in its first six possessions and Barone didn’t make his first field goal until five minutes remained in the game. Four of five Pioneer starters scored double-digits, as Jalen Love would lead the charge with 22 points. Denver has won nine consecutive home games and sits in second place, two games behind undefeated La. Tech in the WAC standings.

La. Tech 84, Texas State 69

So far, so good. The Bulldogs may just run away with an undefeated conference record. If La. Tech does manage to beat Denver and New Mexico State away from home in the last two games of conference play, they could earn an auto bid to the Big Dance. The Bulldogs weren’t challenged Saturday against the Bobcats, when a 15-point victory helped the hosts remain undefeated in Ruston. La. Tech is now 13-0 on its home floor and is receiving votes in the AP Top 25. Sophomore Raheem Appleby led the Bulldogs with 21 points and was the only Tech starter to score in double figures.

UTA 68, UTSA 63

Although two Roadrunner starters combined for 40 points, only five UTSA players scored for the visitors in their 12th WAC loss. Kannon Burrage and Michael Hale III took more than half of UTSA’s shots and the Roadrunners went just 32 percent from the field. UTA shot 47 percent from the field and received 30 combined points from Kevin Butler and Shaquille White-Miller. UTSA held a 37-35 lead at halftime but scored just 26 second-half points and couldn’t scrape out its second WAC win. The Roadrunners have lost five consecutive games and will have a break from conference play when they host future WAC member California State-Bakersfield. UTA is now two games above .500 and will have a good chance of avoiding a first-round WAC Tournament game.

New Mexico State 60, Seattle U. 57

The Redhawks gave the red-hot Aggies a scare but New Mexico State walked out with its 11th consecutive win, and the hosts continue to push for second place, having lost only two games thus far into the WAC season. A massive Aggie squad was rebounded by a 42-30 margin, but 7-foot-6 center Sim Bhullar would grab nine of those for NMSU, while pouring in 14 points and blocking four shots. Daniel Mullings scored a game-high 18 points for the Aggies, who won shooting just 34 percent from the field. In addition, only two Aggie players would come off the bench, and only one of those would score points.